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Smethport, Pennsylvania
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Smethport, Pennsylvania
Smethport is a borough in and the county seat of McKean County, Pennsylvania, United States. The mayor is Wayne V. Foltz. The population was 1,436 at the 2020 census. Smethport is part of the Bradford, PA micropolitan statistical area. Smethport holds the record of having had the coldest temperature ever recorded in Pennsylvania: −42 °F (−41 °C) on January 5, 1904.
Smethport was founded in 1807 by Dutch land investors who were surveying a large tract of land they had purchased from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and was named in honor of a Dutch banking family, the De Smeths, who financed the land investments. The town's first business was a water-powered sawmill built by John Applebee in 1822. Smethport became the McKean County seat in 1826 and was incorporated as a borough in 1853. The sawmill's artificial pond is now the centerpiece of Hamlin Park. Smethport has ties to General Thomas L. Kane who organized the Bucktail Regiment during the Civil War; the borough is home to an active group of Bucktail re-enactors.
The borough has been the location of offices for several forest industry firms. From the 1870s to the early 1900s, Smethport was an important center for the East Coast hardwoods industry and enjoyed a timber-fueled economic boom that allowed the construction of many mansions that today make up a historic architectural district.
The first magnetic toys in the country were invented in Smethport in 1908. The Wooly Willy toy, a hit in the 1950s and still in production, was created in Smethport by Donald and James Herzog of the Smethport Specialty Company. In 2004 Smethport was selected as Pennsylvania's first Route 6 Heritage Community, as a part of a heritage tourism development program.
Smethport is situated in east-central McKean County, within the Pennsylvania Wilds region on the Allegheny Plateau. The borough is in a hilly area about 15 miles (24 km) east of Allegheny National Forest and 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Kinzua Bridge State Park. By road, Smethport is slightly over 100 miles (160 km) east of Erie (a two-hour drive) and 95 miles (153 km) south of Buffalo.
U.S. Route 6 passes through Smethport as its Main Street. It leads southwest 14 miles (23 km) to Mount Jewett and east 10 miles (16 km) to Port Allegany. Pennsylvania Route 59 has its eastern terminus in Smethport and leads west 42 miles (68 km) to Warren. Pennsylvania Route 46 passes through the northeast corner of Smethport, leading northwest 18 miles (29 km) to Bradford, the largest community in McKean County, and southeast 26 miles (42 km) to Emporium, passing over the Eastern Continental Divide along the way.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Smethport has a total area of 1.74 square miles (4.51 km2), of which 1.68 square miles (4.35 km2) are land and 0.06 square miles (0.16 km2), or 3.45%, are water. Potato Creek, a north-flowing tributary of the Allegheny River, forms the eastern border of the borough. Marvin Creek, a tributary of Potato Creek, passes just south of the center of town, and Blacksmith Run joins it from the west.
Smethport's elevation is 1,560 feet (480 m) above sea level, within the valley of Potato Creek. Prospect Hill, elevation 2,438 feet (743 m), rises above the borough to the east.
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Smethport, Pennsylvania
Smethport is a borough in and the county seat of McKean County, Pennsylvania, United States. The mayor is Wayne V. Foltz. The population was 1,436 at the 2020 census. Smethport is part of the Bradford, PA micropolitan statistical area. Smethport holds the record of having had the coldest temperature ever recorded in Pennsylvania: −42 °F (−41 °C) on January 5, 1904.
Smethport was founded in 1807 by Dutch land investors who were surveying a large tract of land they had purchased from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and was named in honor of a Dutch banking family, the De Smeths, who financed the land investments. The town's first business was a water-powered sawmill built by John Applebee in 1822. Smethport became the McKean County seat in 1826 and was incorporated as a borough in 1853. The sawmill's artificial pond is now the centerpiece of Hamlin Park. Smethport has ties to General Thomas L. Kane who organized the Bucktail Regiment during the Civil War; the borough is home to an active group of Bucktail re-enactors.
The borough has been the location of offices for several forest industry firms. From the 1870s to the early 1900s, Smethport was an important center for the East Coast hardwoods industry and enjoyed a timber-fueled economic boom that allowed the construction of many mansions that today make up a historic architectural district.
The first magnetic toys in the country were invented in Smethport in 1908. The Wooly Willy toy, a hit in the 1950s and still in production, was created in Smethport by Donald and James Herzog of the Smethport Specialty Company. In 2004 Smethport was selected as Pennsylvania's first Route 6 Heritage Community, as a part of a heritage tourism development program.
Smethport is situated in east-central McKean County, within the Pennsylvania Wilds region on the Allegheny Plateau. The borough is in a hilly area about 15 miles (24 km) east of Allegheny National Forest and 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Kinzua Bridge State Park. By road, Smethport is slightly over 100 miles (160 km) east of Erie (a two-hour drive) and 95 miles (153 km) south of Buffalo.
U.S. Route 6 passes through Smethport as its Main Street. It leads southwest 14 miles (23 km) to Mount Jewett and east 10 miles (16 km) to Port Allegany. Pennsylvania Route 59 has its eastern terminus in Smethport and leads west 42 miles (68 km) to Warren. Pennsylvania Route 46 passes through the northeast corner of Smethport, leading northwest 18 miles (29 km) to Bradford, the largest community in McKean County, and southeast 26 miles (42 km) to Emporium, passing over the Eastern Continental Divide along the way.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Smethport has a total area of 1.74 square miles (4.51 km2), of which 1.68 square miles (4.35 km2) are land and 0.06 square miles (0.16 km2), or 3.45%, are water. Potato Creek, a north-flowing tributary of the Allegheny River, forms the eastern border of the borough. Marvin Creek, a tributary of Potato Creek, passes just south of the center of town, and Blacksmith Run joins it from the west.
Smethport's elevation is 1,560 feet (480 m) above sea level, within the valley of Potato Creek. Prospect Hill, elevation 2,438 feet (743 m), rises above the borough to the east.
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